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Startup to Combine Object Storage, Traditional Backup

A startup storage company plans to roll out its first product this fall in a strategy that will focus on merging the traits of object-based storage and enterprise backup.

A startup storage company plans to roll out its first product this fall in a strategy that will focus on merging the traits of object-based storage and enterprise backup.

By identifying data as objects instead of as blocks or files, Avamar Technologies Inc.s as-yet-unnamed product will eliminate multiple copies and determine optimal ways to back up only the parts that have changed, said Chairman and CEO Kevin Daly.

Daly came to Avamar from Quantum Corp., where he was chief technology officer of the Milpitas, Calif., companys tape division.

The result of the technology—which Avamar officials call Commonality Factoring—will be to improve "literally by factors of 10 to 100 the amount of data youve got to move around," Daly said.

Further reading

When the product is announced later this year, it will be positioned as an alternative, not an adjunct, to traditional systems from vendors such as Computer Associates International Inc., Legato Systems Inc. and Veritas Software Corp., Daly said.

Ideally, the product will be used in environments that are physically distributed, Daly said.

The products ability to minimize data size could also make a good application for IP networks, he said.

Avamars product is "very similar in technology" to that of FilePool NV, the Belgium-based startup acquired by EMC Corp. late last year, Daly said. FilePools technology is now used in EMCs Centera product. Avamars product runs on the Linux operating system, and applications will initially be available for Windows, various flavors of Unix and Oracle Corp. databases, Daly said.

Avamar, of Irvine, Calif., has about 50 employees and enough funding to last "until initial revenue" next spring, he said.

Avamars product "really addresses a need," said Robert Amatruda, an analyst with International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass. "It stems from the enormous amount of data that continues to be saved and backed up."

Hiring Daly away from Quantum is "a real coup," Amatruda said. However, Avamars challenge will be convincing users that its product can work alongside traditional solutions.

The product is in beta trials, and users will be announced later this summer, Daly said.

If the initial launch is successful, Avamar might seek to add functionality similar to that in EMCs Centera, designed to store data that is frequently accessed but rarely changes. Avamar is also trying to establish OEM partnerships, Daly said.